For sale sign. Blackburn Media file photo by Melanie Irwin.For sale sign. Blackburn Media file photo by Melanie Irwin.
Sarnia

Sarnia-Lambton house prices up nearly 100% since 2017

Sarnia-Lambton's monthly real estate sales cracked the $100 million mark for the first time in history in April, as house prices continued to soar.

Volume sales reached $105 million in April, a 254 per cent increase over the same month last year which was impacted greatly by the pandemic's first lockdown.

Real Estate Board President Rob Longo said last month was very busy for realtors, home buyers and home sellers.

"A lot of that is affected by, obviously, the sale prices," said Longo. "Our median sale price now, for a residential home in Sarnia-Lambton, is about $430,000, which is up about 35 per cent over last year and it's up almost 100 per cent over 2017. So, if you purchased a home around 2017, you're likely looking at an almost 100 per cent increase."

Longo said it's important to note that owning a home in Sarnia-Lambton continues to be more affordable than it is in other Ontario communities.

"The median home sale price is about four times the median household income in Sarnia-Lambton. Whereas in a lot of other areas, that would be similar-sized communities, and larger, they are seeing much higher ratios on that, where rather than four times the price, they're looking at eight to ten times the household income."

Longo said there were 232 new listings in April, and homes, on average, sold for 110 per cent above asking in about eight days.  A total of 210 properties sold compared to just 81 in pandemic-depressed April, 2020.

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